Week 26 — The Return – The Weekly List

The most noteworthy stories this week revolve around Trump’s grift. We’ve been covering Trump’s irreverence around conflicts of interest in the second regime, as well as examples each week of his using the office of the presidency to line his pockets; this week it seemed to all come together with some great reporting by the Times. If you want a good primer on how Trump has pocketed billions from cryptocurrency alone, you can read my article here.

The thing that strikes me the most is how we have normalized Trump using the office of the presidency to enrich himself while in office. In the first regime, far lesser offenses resulted in great public outrage. What accounts for the difference? I suspect part of the reason is we are very purposefully being overwhelmed: Trump was off to a sprinting start in the second regime, thanks to Project 2025. I also fear that we have come to accept that Trump is just gonna grift — normalizing this behavior and letting it be — a sign we are taking a step down the slippery slope to authoritarianism.

On a happier note, this is the third week in which Trump’s actions are notably slower. The courts, the protests, the polls and the faltering economy have combined to slow his roll. This week the regime suffered notable major losses, including a huge victory by law firm Perkins Coie, and being forced to capitulate to the state of Maine on school funding. Trump also made several bold pronouncements, which he was forced to reverse days later.

Overall, there is a marked turn to defiance of Trump spreading and becoming more mainstream. While in the early weeks of this project the majority of those on the receiving end of Trump’s actions were capitulating, these past weeks mark a shift to the opposite being true — a reinforcement loop that is continuing. Mass protests continue, and have been remarkably successful, including chasing Elon Musk out of our federal government, on the backs of his ruined brand (read about how Musk’s DOGE ended up costing taxpayers money here). Trump continues to lose lawsuits, now numbering more than 140, which have paused or halted his actions.

The “60 Minutes” segment featuring Kamala Harris last fall, which Trump filed a $20 billion lawsuit over claiming it was deceptively edited, and which Paramount capitulated to Trump on to complete a merger, was nominated for an Emmy award for “outstanding edited interview.”
In a letter to Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, Sen. Bernie Sanders and eight Democratic senators urged her not to settle the lawsuit, saying, “Freedom of the press is what sets us apart from tin-pot dictatorships and authoritarian regimes.”
Australia became the second country in the past week to have their election swayed by Trump: after the conservative candidate, who had invoked Trump, was leading in polling, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the center-left candidate, convincingly won reelection.
State-backed Emirati firm MGX announced at a Dubai conference that it would use a stablecoin developed by the Trump family crypto firm World Liberty Financial to finance its $2 billion deal with Binance. Eric Trump was on the panel when the deal as announced.
Conflicts of interest abounded. The deal would generate hundreds of millions for the Trump family. Zach Witkoff, founder of WLF, is the son of the White House envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. WLF has allowed foreign nationals to buy $WLFI coins that benefit Trump.
Trump is listed as WLF’s chief crypto advocate. He has held talks with Binance, which pleaded guilty to violating anti-money-laundering requirements in 2023, about taking a stake in exchange for a pardon. Trump will travel to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE in two weeks.
The Times also reported that Eric and Donald Jr. are working on a slew of other deals in Europe, the United States and the Middle East that capitalize on Trump’s name and power in office. In Qatar and the UAE, announcements of deals involved foreign governments.
Developments include a Trump International Hotel and Tower in Dubai, a high end residential tower in Saudi Arabia, and a golf course and villa complex in Qatar. The deals are unprecedented because they result in revenue that benefits Trump while still in office.
Donald Jr. also appeared on stage in Bulgaria with Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of cryptocurrency firm Nexo, which was fined $45 million by the SEC in 2023 and agreed to leave the U.S. market. Trenchev announced Nexo was returning to the U.S. market.
On Wednesday, at a cabinet meeting on day 101, Musk said goodbye to the regime, claiming to have cut $160 billion, although DOGE’s “wall of receipts” did not account for 64 percent of that amount. Musk said DOGE would do well in his absence, but did not offer details.
Musk flattered Trump, saying, “more than has been accomplished in any administration before. Ever. So this portends very well.” Trump said Musk was “treated very unfairly,” and said Musk “wants to get back home to his cars.” Musk no longer had a West Wing office.
At the cabinet meeting, following weak GDP and employment results, Trump acknowledged the pain his tariffs will cause for consumer, albeit insensitively, musing, “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more.”
Trump also sought to blame former president Joseph Biden for the GDP weakness, telling his cabinet, “that’s Biden. That’s not Trump,” although Trump took credit for the rise in the stock market post election. Trump also suggested that the second quarter GDP would be Biden’s fault.
NYT reported that nonprofit Partnership for Public Service estimated that the costs of DOGE’s firings, re-hirings, lost productivity, and paid leave of thousands of workers could cost upwards of $135 billion. Additionally, there is expected to be lost tax revenue.
WAPO reported that Congress is unlikely to codify even a fraction of Musk’s proposed cuts, as the regime faced resistance from Republican lawmakers. Even the initial ask of $9 billion in savings, requiring just 51 votes in the Senate, has met opposition from Republicans.
On Thursday, White House budget director Russ Vought canceled a scheduled meeting with the House Appropriations Committee, at Trump’s request. Republican Chair Tom Cole vented his frustration, telling reporters Trump is not the “commander” of Congress.
On Thursday, Amazon announced plans to spend $4 billion in rural towns delivery expansion, expecting to add 170 jobs at more than 200 sites. The announcement came the day after the company drew Trump’s ire over a plan to display the cost of tariffs for each item.
Liz Oyer, the Justice Department’s recently fired pardon attorney, said in a TikTok post that Trump’s pardons of people from white collar crimes has cost American taxpayers $1 billion in lost revenue.
On Wednesday, Chinese state television CCTV reported that the Trump regime had reached out to Beijing through various channels to initiate talks on the massive tariffs Trump imposed on China, after Trump had repeatedly claimed China’s president had called him.
On Thursday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged the Trump regime to implement a “tariff exclusion process” to lift tariffs on small businesses and on all products that “cannot be produced in the U.S.,” in order to keep the U.S. economy from falling into a recession.
On Wednesday, WIRED reported that a DOGE employee, who is still in college, has been charged with using artificial intelligence to propose rewrites of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s rules and regulations.
On Thursday, Trump fired Mike Waltz from his role as national security adviser, the first cabinet firing of the second regime. Waltz had come under fire for adding a reporter from The Atlantic to a Signal chat, but had also been viewed as a ‘hawk” by the MAGA universe.
Trump temporarily replaced Waltz with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce learned about the shift from reporters in the midst of a press briefing. Trump appointed Waltz to U.S Ambassador to the United Nations.
Waltz’s deputy, Alex Wong, was also pushed out after being targeted by far-right activist Laura Loomer, who claimed without basis that he was connected to the Chinese Communist Party. Loomer claimed another “SCALP” in a post on X.
WAPO reported in the second regime, Trump has hired MAGA true believers for roles that previously went to traditional Republicans. Also under Trump, the National Security Council has diminishing influence, leaving Trump to go with advice from this shrinking circle and his gut.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced he was ending the Defense Department’s Women, Peace and Security program, which he falsely claimed was a “Biden initiative,” but actually came during the first Trump regime, and was championed by Ivanka Trump and Rubio.
Hegseth also ordered a 20 percent reduction in four-star generals, and a 10 percent reduction in general-level officers in the military, citing in a memo that to “drive innovation and operational excellence, the military must be unencumbered by unnecessary bureaucratic layers.”
WSJ reported that Hegseth used at least a dozen Signal chats to conduct official Pentagon business, many of which he set up himself. In one chat, he instructed aides to tell a foreign country about an unfolding military operation.
NYT reported service on TeleMessage, a Signal clone used by former national security adviser Mike Waltz and others in the White House to comply with record-keeping regulations and laws, temporarily suspended service following a ‘security incident.’
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump regime can ban transgender people from serving in the military for now, lifting a lower court injunction. The court did not explain the decision, but said its order would expire if the justices take up the case on its merits.
The ACLU and other groups sued the Trump regime over its dismantling of HHS program Head Start, a federal program that provides preschool and other services for children in poverty from birth to age 5, saying doing so is illegal since funding was approved by Congress.
On Wednesday, HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. revived a false claim on the measles vaccine, telling News Nation that the reason some religious groups don’t want to take it is because “MMR vaccine contains a lot of aborted fetus debris and DNA particles.”
On Friday, Kennedy instructed the Centers for Disease Control to conduct an agency wide “scientific process” to find new ways of treating measles and other conditions, using medications and alternative therapies. The MMR vaccine is 97% effective at preventing measles.
WAPO reported Kennedy will also shift the way vaccines are tested to require all new vaccines undergo placebo testing, alarming health experts that the news approach could undermine the public’s trust in immunization.
WIRED reported that Kennedy also ordered a National Institutes of Health research lab in Maryland, which studies Ebola and other deadly infectious diseases, to stop research activities. The facility’s director, Connie Schmaljohn, has also been placed on administrative leave.
NBC News reported the Trump regime also shuttered the CDC’s infection control committee, Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee. The federal advisory committee issued guidance about preventing the spread of infections in health care facilities.
ABC News reported the World Trade Center Health Program, a health program for 9/11 responders, has stopped certifying treatments, leaving responders without access to care. The programs longtime leader was fired then restored, but it is unclear if his power was restored.
NYT reported the Trump regime has slashed more than $800 million in funding for research into LGBTQ health, abandoning studies of cancers and viruses. Of the 669 NIH grants that have been canceled, nearly half relate to LGBTQ health.
On Friday, NYT reported the CIA fired its top doctor in the Center for Global Health Services, Dr. Terry Adirim, on April 4, after she was repeatedly targeted by far-right activists over her support of vaccines. One provocateur accused her of “genocide and mass mutilation.”
A federal judge issued an administrative stay, blocking the regime from firing Adirim, which would have gone into effect on Saturday, pending a hearing to start on Monday.
WAPO reported controversial scientist Steven Hatfill, a virologist who pushed hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the coronavirus despite a lack of scientific evidence during the first Trump regime, will return in a senior role at HHS.
On Monday, Democratic AGs from 19 states and D.C. sued the Trump regime, saying that slashing grants and staffers at HHS amounted to an “unconstitutional and illegal dismantling” of the agency. The lawsuit also took aim at Kennedy changing vaccine-approval practices.
The lawsuit cited several federal programs for which Congress had allocated funding, including mental health and addiction services, Head Start, Medicaid, and assistance paying heating and cooling bill for low-income households.
On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner picked Vinay Prasad as the agency’s top regulator of vaccines, gene therapies, and the blood supply. Prasad has been a vocal critic of the FDA and its pandemic-era policies, including vaccination recommendations.
NYT reported on the mainstreaming of fringe conspiracy theories and theorists in the second Trump regime, including Kennedy and Loomer, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said the government can control the weather, and Elon Musk who said Fort Knox gold may have been stolen.
On Friday, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency was was “shifting its scientific expertise,” and will disperse scientists from its independent research office to focus on, among other things, approving the use of new chemicals.
Under Zeldin, the EPA has revised or repealed more than 30 regulations so far that protected the air, water, and climate. The agency is also working to dismantle most climate regulations.
Bloomberg reported after Zeldin dismissed the authors of what would be the sixth National Climate Assessment in Week 25, two science organizations, the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society, said they will offer a platform for the research.
On Monday, attorneys general from 17 states sued the EPA over its halting of permits for wind-energy projects, saying the halt threatens jobs and holds back energy production at a time when Trump has claimed the country is in an “energy emergency.”
On Tuesday, the EPA said it would end the Energy Star program, a popular program that identifies appliances that are certified as energy efficient with a blue star. Since its inception in 1992, the program has saved more than $500 billion in energy costs.
On Thursday, a federal appeals court overruled a lower court, saying the Trump regime could temporarily continue to block money from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
The appeals court however upheld a lower court ruling, requiring the Trump regime to bring back journalists from Voice of America from paid leave, and to resume its news programming. Both provide news to countries with limited press freedoms.
On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order instructing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to end federal funding for NPR and PBS, which Trump claimed produce biased coverage and “left-wing propaganda.”
On Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social, “We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” The post came shortly before an important jobs number was expected to be released, serving as a possible distraction.
Harvard’s president told the WSJ later Friday that Trump’s move would be “highly illegal” and “destructive to Harvard,” adding, “Tax exempt status is granted to educational institutions to enable them to successfully carry out their mission.”
On Monday, Education Department Sec. Linda McMahon informed Harvard in a letter that it would not be eligible for future research grants, blasting the school for “disastrous mismanagement.” A Harvard statement said the move was “doubling down,” and illegal.
On Monday, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sold bonds to raise funds and boost liquidity, amid funding threats by the Trump regime, joining other schools including Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton.
NYT reported Trump DOJ appointee Emil Bove ordered career prosecutors to gather lists of students who protested for Gaza at Columbia University, raising anger and alarm that the move was politically motivated, meritless, and violated the First Amendment.
Bove also ordered an investigation of Columbia University Apartheid Divest. Civil rights prosecutors became concerned the investigation and list were a pretext to intimidate and deport students. Bove also planned to share the list with immigration agents.
On Monday, WSJ reported the Trump regime presented Columbia University with a consent decree, which would grant a judge oversight of whether the school was in compliance. The regime told Columbia if it does not accept, it will face a court battle.
On Monday, the Education Department invoked rules saying that schools with rising student loan default rates could lose eligibility for future federal student loans. Nearly 10 million borrowers are in default or on the cusp.
On Tuesday, the Education Department said it was investigating a school district in Saratoga Springs, New York, over its policy of allowing transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports.
On Tuesday, a federal judge barred Trump’s Education Department from withholding $1 billion in funding earmarked under the Biden administration to help students struggling to recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
A budget proposal put forth by Trump would eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, agencies he tried to get rid of during the first regime. The regime already redirected some of the funds appropriated to the agencies.
WAPO reported the NEA rescinded grants to arts organizations, including publishers and theaters, in an email, saying their grants fell outside of the priorities set by Trump, and would be reallocated to further Trump’ s agenda.
On Friday, WAPO reported the Trump regime has informed lawmakers that it is also planning to cut 1,200 jobs in the Central Intelligence Agency over several years, and cut thousands more from other major U.S. spy units.
DNI Tulsi Gabbard has frequently told conservative media outlets that U.S. intelligence staffers are part of a “deep state” working to undermine Trump. She claimed at this week’s cabinet meeting that her agency was “25 percent smaller” than when she assumed leadership.
On Friday, Chinese bargain site Temu said it would cease shipments to the U.S., citing Trump’s tariffs. Experts expect air traffic from China could drop by 30 to 40 percent within a month.
A Goldman Sachs analysis found the U.S. economy could also lose billions as travel demand weakens, both from abroad as foreign travelers sour on the U.S. as well as domestically.
On Friday, United Airlines canceled 35 daily round-trip flights from the Newark, New Jersey airport starting over the weekend, after a group of air-traffic controllers left their posts citing problems with their radar and radios.
On Friday, Maine’s attorney general said the Trump regime’s Agriculture Department unfroze $3 million in federal funding for food for schoolchildren and other essential services, after the state sued the Trump regime for blocking funds over allowing transgender athletes.
The AG said the Trump regime tried to “bully” Maine. Gov. Janet Mills and said in a statement that the Trump regime had made an “unlawful attempt to freeze critical funding,” but the agreement will preserve healthy meals for about 170,000 schoolchildren across Maine.
On Friday, in an emergency application, the Trump regime asked the Supreme Court to allow members of Musk’s DOGE to view Social Security data, claiming the federal judge who blocked access citing privacy laws inflicted “irreparable harm on urgent federal priorities.”
WAPO reported DOGE is racing to build a central database, culling sensitive personal information of millions of U.S. citizens and residents, a move which government workers say violates core privacy and security protections measures meant to protect private data.
On Friday, a federal judge struck down Trump’s executive order targeting Perkins Coie in a blistering ruling, calling it “an unprecedented attack” on the U.S. judicial system, that “violates the Constitution and is thus null and void.”
The judge cited Trump’s “multi-year history of lodging public attacks” on the firm, and “his promises during the 2024 campaign to act,” adding, “This purpose amounts to no more than unconstitutional retaliation for plaintiff’s First Amendment protected activity.”
On Thursday, May Day, a day to honor the cause of workers, tens of thousands of demonstrators at rallies around the country protested against issues such as Trump’s treatment of federal workers and immigrants, and his unlawful behavior, among other issues.
In a separate effort on Thursday, at the National Law Day of Action in New York City, about 1,500 demonstrators, many of whom were lawyers wearing suits, stood at Manhattan’s federal courthouse to protest Trump’s threats against judges and the rule of law.
As of May 7, at least 140 rulings against the Trump regime had paused or blocked Trump’s and his regime’s actions.
On Sunday, at a contentious town hall for Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in New York, a woman in her 70s was carried out by several members of law enforcement, while the audience chanted, “Let her stay! Let her stay!” and later, “Shame! Shame! Shame!”
On Thursday, the AP reported the Army is planning a potential military parade on June 14 for Trump’s 79th birthday, which would include more than 6,600 soldiers, and at least 150 vehicles and 50 helicopters. High costs halted a similar effort during the first regime.
Late Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he would rename Veterans Day as “Victory Day for World War I,” and have a separate day to celebrate World War II, claiming, “we never celebrate anything — That’s because we don’t have leaders anymore.”
Veterans groups voiced their displeasure with Trump’s idea, saying the move would ignore the sacrifices of most living veterans, who fought in wars that had more mixed results. Additionally, 99% of living veterans did not fight in WWII.
DOJ assistant AG Harmeet Dhillon lifted a school desegregation order in Louisiana put in place in 1966, claiming this and other desegregation legal agreements place an unnecessary burden on schools. Dozens of schools in the South remain under court ordered agreements.
Dhillon also announced on social media that her civil rights division was investigating a policy in Hennepin County, Minnesota, where the prosecutor’s office told staff to be mindful of considering “racial disparities” as a factor in plea negotiations.
On Friday, the Trump regime sued Colorado and Denver, claiming the state, city, and their leaders impeded immigration enforcement. The lawsuit also challenged a Denver measure that bans the use of city resources to assist with immigration enforcement.
On Friday, in a video, Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said every American should be concerned about the “chilling” suggestion from Trump’s so-called border czar Tom Homan that Evers could be arrested over guidance to state employees, but said he is not afraid.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee urged AG Pam Bondi to drop a plan to pay restitution to Jan. 6 insurrectionists, saying the government should not financially reward those “who ransacked the Capitol, attacked law enforcement officers, and threatened the lives of those who serve here.”
WSJ reported Goldman Sachs quietly removed mentions of ‘Black’ from its diversity pledge, as it sought to comply with Trump’s order. The bank’s “One Million Black Women” program was no longer for Black women, instead shifting to low- and moderate-income populations.
On Saturday, Trump posted an A.I.-generated photo of himself wearing the traditional outfit of the pope on Truth Social, Instagram and, X. The White House accounts also reposted the image on its official Instagram and X accounts.
The image, posted while millions were still mourning the death of Pope Francis, drew widespread blowback from Catholic leaders and religious groups, while some of his allies like Sen. Lindsey Graham tried to portray it as a joke.
On Monday, Trump sought to distance himself from the post, claiming, “I had nothing to do with it,” and adding, “I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was A.I.” Trump also said, “You have to have a little fun,” and blamed the controversy on “the fake news.”
On Sunday, in an interview with “Meet the Press,” when asked if citizens and non-citizens in the U.S. were entitled to due process under the Constitution, Trump said, “I don’t know,” adding, “I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.”
When reminded that the Fifth Amendment says that, Trump responded, “I don’t know. It seems — it might say that, but if you’re talking about that, then we’d have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials,” claiming we have “some of the worst people on Earth.”
Trump added, “I was elected to get them the hell out of here, and the courts are holding me from doing it,” and when pressed said he has “brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said.”
Asked if he was following the law in directing the IRS to revoke Harvard’s nonprofit status, Trump said, “I’m going to just follow what the lawyers say. They say that we’re allowed to do that, and I’m all for it. But everything I say is subject to the laws being 100% adhered to.”
When asked if he would take blame for the shrinking GDP, Trump said, “I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy because he’s done a terrible job.”
Trump also, for the first time said he was not considering running for a third term, saying, “this is not something I’m looking to do.”
On Sunday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he is ordering the Bureau of Prisons to reopen and expand the Alcatraz Island prison, which closed in 1963, and is currently a busy tourist attraction, saying it would be used “to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”
Later Sunday, Trump told reporters he would appoint judges who will not demand deportation trials, claiming, “We have millions of people that have come in here illegally, and we can’t have a trial for every single person. That would be millions of trials”
Later Sunday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had authorized U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer to impose a 100 percent tariff on all movies “produced” outside the U.S., claiming the issue posed a national security threat.
On Monday, a White House spokesperson said “no final decisions” had been made on the movies tariffs, saying the regime was “exploring all options to deliver on President Trump’s directive.”
On Sunday, former VP Mike Pence defended the Constitution while accepting the Profile in Courage Award, saying, “whatever differences we may have as Americans, the Constitution is the common ground on which we stand. It’s what binds us across time and generations.”
Pence criticized Trump in an interview, saying, “Putin doesn’t want peace. He wants Ukraine.” He also said that that Trump’s trade policies “will harm consumers” and the economy; that Kennedy has spent a lifetime undermining vaccines; and pardoning Jan. 6 insurrectionists “sent the wrong message.”
WAPO reported former president George W. Bush will not attend a White House event hosted by First Lady Melania Trump unveiling a new U.S. postal stamp honoring his mother, former first lady Barbara Bush. Bush has distanced himself from Trump politically.
In an interview with BBC, former president Joseph Biden made his first public remarks about Trump, without mentioning him by name, saying of Trump’s meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, “I found it sort of beneath America in the way that it took place.”
Biden also cited Trump’s renaming the Gulf of Mexico, and efforts to take the Panama Canal and acquire Greenland, “What the hell’s going on here? What president ever talks like that? That’s not who we are. We’re about freedom, democracy, opportunity, not about confiscation.”
On Thursday, a federal judge barred the Trump regime from invoking the Aliens Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans from Texas, saying the regime’s use of the statute was illegal. Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., a Trump appointee, issued the most expansive ruling to date.
On Thursday, the Trump regime asked the Supreme Court to lift a ban put in place by a federal judge blocking the regime from deporting hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants in the U.S. under the Temporary Protected Status program.
On Monday, the Trump regime offered to pay a $1,000 stipend to undocumented immigrants who will leave the country willingly, and get them a flight back to their home country. The regime has removed 140,000 migrants so far, far below Trump’s promise to remove millions.
On Monday, a federal appeals court rejected a request by the Trump regime to put aside a lower court ruling that halted the regime from revoking the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.
On Monday, a federal judge ordered the Trump regime to admit roughly 12,000 refugees, overriding Trump’s executive order blocking admissions under the refugee program, a form of legal migration to the U.S. for people displaced by war, natural disaster, or persecution.
On Monday, a newly declassified memo by U.S. intelligence confirmed a previous finding that intelligence does not believe that the government of Venezuela controls a criminal gang, Tren de Aragua, the rationale used by Trump to invoke the Aliens Enemies Act.
On Monday, more than 150 former state and federal judges signed a letter to AG Pam Bondi, condemning the arrest of Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan, saying it was “nothing but an effort to threaten and intimidate the state and federal judiciaries into submitting.”
On Tuesday, a coalition of immigration nonprofits sued the Trump regime over its cancellation of the National Qualified Representative Program, a program that provided legal help to immigrants with mental disabilities.
On Tuesday, a federal judge kept in place her order requiring the Trump regime to return a 20-year-old Venezuelan identified in court papers as Cristian, who like Kilmar Abrego Garcia was flown to El Salvador on March 15, refusing to set aside her order as requested by the DOJ.
On Wednesday, a federal appeals court ruled that Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk can be sent from a Louisiana immigration detention center back to Vermont for hearings to determine whether her rights were violated.
Famed investor Warren Buffet defended global trade at the Berkshire annual meeting, saying, “I don’t think it’s a great idea to design a world where a few countries say ‘ha-ha-ha, we won’ and the rest of the countries are envious,” adding, “Trade should not be a weapon.”
On Tuesday, ahead of his first White House visit from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump posted on Truth Social, he “cannot understand” why the U.S. is “subsidizing Canada by $200 Billion Dollars a year, in addition to giving them FREE Military Protection.”
Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office, Trump repeatedly spoke about annexing Canada, to which Carney said, “There are some places that are never for sale,” adding Canada is “not for sale” and “won’t be for sale ever. Trump replied, “Never say never.”
After previously claiming the regime was close to signing trade deals and China had called him, Trump reversed, saying, “We don’t have to sign deals. We could sign 25 deals right now if we wanted,” saying he will dictate terms. He admitted there was no contact yet with China.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who had also said the regime was close on completing trade deals, declined when asked by reporters to name which countries, and switched to saying the deals would initially be agreements in principle, and finalized in the coming months.
WSJ reported that U.S. intelligence is beefing up its intelligence gathering on Greenland. Senior officials under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard issued a “collection emphasis message” to intelligence agencies, as a high interest target.
Reuters reported that global mergers and acquisitions activity in April hit a 20-year low after Trump’s ‘Liberation Day.’ In the U.S., just 555 deals were signed in April, the lowest level since May 2009.
WSJ reported that amid Trump’s trade war, other countries are doubling down on their efforts to trade with one another, in an attempt to seek out resilient trading partners. The U.K. and India recently completed a trade agreement, and the EU is negotiating a deal with India.

President Donald Trump meets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)